What's the Status?
This has been in-progress since 6/6/2021.
Expected Delivery
As you know this can change. However, the target availability for SP11 is estimated to be 7/16/2021.
What to Expect
More Ribbon Improvements -
Bug fixes
Performance improvements
Documentation
Since the changes in SP10 were primarily user interface-related with very little code changes, publishing a list of changes would've been a waste of time. Instead, that list will be published on or after SP11 is published.
SP 10
The last service pack was left unannounced because I wanted to make absolutely sure the new coding was stable before I mentioned it was available. Based on the feedback I've got thus far, it appears to be solid, which is great to know after several years of going without updating the software. (THAT won't happen again... Ever.)
SP 11 Now Available
'Bout time, eh?
Click here to download the installer.
I'll provide some details about the contents of the service pack later on.
Status as of 10/11/21
I spent Friday & Saturday morning in pure frustration! After completely reorganizing the entire application, I was unable to get ASE to load or even startup at all after the major refactor that was done.
But God is Good
Saturday afternoon everything suddenly came together after finding the last few bugs that prevented file linking, loading & startup! Seeing this at the command line after starting C3D was a sight for sore eyes!
AutoCAD menu utilities loaded. | | |[ASE Civil17 (C)2002-2021 ASE, LLC ] ||> ||> ||> [1/9] Loading CORE program components... ||> [2/9] Loading extension library[1/2]... ||> [3/9] Loading CORE dependencies... ||> [4/9] Loading .NET assemblies... ||> netload Press ENTER to continue: C:/Program Files/AseCivil17/exe/AseCivil17.dll Unknown command "DLL". Press F1 for help. ||> [5/9] Checking/updating Windows Registry... ||>RegistryAudit ||> [6/9] Loading extension library[2/2]... ||> [7/9] Resolving client ID... ||> [8/9] Initializing REACTORS...ASE Reactors system ready... ||> ASE Civil17, Build:[276.2043] / Service Pack:{17.11} loaded. ||> ||> [9/9] Disabing reactors until triggered... |[ASE CIVIL IS READY] | | | Command:I know there's still an error in the startup process at the 'netload' statement, but that's an easy fix. Didn't actually notice it until I pasted this snippet here.
Testing
After getting ASE to link, load & authorize reliably, I was able to begin testing on each of the individual subsystems. After about 50% completion, I've run into virtually no problems with the newly-restructured build.
Revised Release Date 11/15/21
Since I now have a working product that can actually be published right now (in a pinch), it's much easier to provide a realistic release date. Based on the current test results I can promise delivery no later than Friday of this week. I realize I've provided bad release dates before, but I'm voluntarily stating this date with confidence and without any external pressure. The update is ready now. But it's NOT going out the door without being fully regression tested.
More Details To Come
Since I'm actively testing right now, I can provide more information later detailing the specifics of the new version, e.g. what to expect, how the installation will be different from previous versions, etc.
I really appreciate your patience, waiting for this update. Now that all the "drudgery" work is done, I'm pretty excited myself. I've learned a LOT of new development skills that I'm anxious to apply to ASE Civil.
Nick
Status as of 10/4/21
Late again, I know... But I'm close!
Watch this video when you have 2 minutes to spare. I'll tell you what's up...
Chris,
I was recently pulled away from ASE development due to several personal tragedies I experienced in the past few months. Please pardon my absence.
However, I'm back in "full-effect" now and eager to resume servicing my Clients. I do appreciate your patience.
Service Pack 11 Status
I can't see any reason why you wouldn't see this update sometime later this week.
What's the status on Service Pack 11?
Praise Jesus!
Thank you too, Autodesk, for giving us such flexible architecture! You guys are the BOMB! (Autodesk.com)
Thanks for following up with that sweet info, Chris. I really appreciate you, bru!
Hi Chris, when you say that it's working, do you mean that ASE is able to access civil 3D surfaces and alignments? I sure hope the answer is yes... 🙏🏾
Where is SP 11?
It's delayed due to discovery of a solution to the .NET dialog problem that has plagued me lately to no end. This is good & bad though.
Good because now I can move forward again with new user interface development & integration.
Bad because it creates a scheduling hiccup.
Why Is This Such a Big Deal?
This is important stuff though, so I think it justifies delaying release of the next service pack. A significant portion of the development of new tools for ASE Civil requires user interfaces that can communicate directly with AutoCAD.
UIX Improvements
There will continue to be more ribbon enhancements with each successive update until we've established the optimum layout. So maybe I should mute that news for a minute. I'll just show you a few of the panels that have either been improved or overhauled in this specific service pack.
The [Info] & [ref] tabs will be combined into a single tab. The panels will emphasize URLs that are actually useful versus links to social media. You can always get that from the website, so no need to clutter the AutoCAD user interface with trivial content.Some of this tab was complete and included in SP 10. But after looking at them again for a while, a few needed to be redone so they were more recognizable for the requested task or setting. Additional tools will be added before SP 11 is published.When you factor in the revised organization and fresh new icons (which are truly transparent in light or dark AutoCAD themes), I must admit that even though interface design is VERY arduous and time-consuming, when they're all done, they sure are a sight for sore eyes...
Functional Improvements
A large portion of the new features and improvements involve Windows-driven dialogs and user interfaces. Before I tried to release the 2020 version of ASE Civil I encountered a problem displaying them in AutoCAD and could not resolve it with any effectiveness. This limitation has been a serious impediment to rolling out new functionality because there has been no way for the end-user to interact with the new logic, such as to make changes to settings or select modes of operation, etc. The new functionality is useless without functioning user interfaces.
Solution Via Serendipity ;-)
A recent discovery (via the Holy Spirit) led me to the solution that will fix the dialog problem. Therefore, I can start dishing out some improvements to the ASE Civil command library now.
When???
My goal is to have SP 11 available early next week. Some recent interruptions I experienced recently have now cooled down. So I can get back to "full-steam-ahead" mode after I integrate the .NET dialog solution.
I'll keep in touch here in this forum.
Holla!
I know a lot of people don't read this forum yet because I haven't really told anyone about it, but feel free to post and communicate here.
As always thanks for your support of ASE Civil.
Sincerely,
Nick Merchant
Hi Chris,
I haven't tested on 2021 yet. So I can't really say right now with any confidence.
I'll check the library loading in the service pack though. I believe I may have extrapolated the references out to 2021.
Let me know if you discover anything interesting.
Looking forward to it! I started testing SP10 on Civil 3D 2021. It seems to be working. Is there features that won't work in 2021 or Does SP10 fully support C3D 2021?
Thanks